September 2010 Rads

Bubbalu:  I don't think you've missed your "window of opportunity".  My surgery, after chemo, was on June 1.  I just started rads today, after my incision got infected.  My rad onc says rads are OK, as long as it doesn't go over 20-22 weeks.   You should be well within the limits, as you did the same neo-adjuvant chemo I did.

gin2ca-Hope you don't mind my popping in here.  I will begin rads in October and have been learning from your September group.  I, too am concerned about exposure to other areas.  I think there is a lot of buzz that women who get rads end up having increased thryroid problems.  I think Dr. Oz is doing a story about this tomorrow.  I'm not certain as it didn't go into detail, but it showed someone putting a lead shield over the neck/thyroid area in the preview.  I'll let you know if I find out more.  I think you are right to keep asking your RO about risk to other organs.  Shouldn't we know?

Rads or bc treatment a cake walk? No I don't think any of it is a cake walk. Sometimes I tear up just thinking about the fact that I have to have radiation!

Today I have not felt good - I felt nauseous and worn out and my chest was itchy and sore. I had to take my bra off at 2 p.m. because it was irritating my skin under my left arm at the side not the armpit. The right breast (not getting rads) was pink all weekend, but better today, but I am pink underneath both breasts just slightly, plus I have a rash in the cleavage (been there since the simulation when they put sticky tape where a mole had been taken off) and a rash around one of the tatoos that was caused by a band aid! Whew - that was a long sentence of whining! Anyway sad the rad onc today and told him all this and he said (in a joking tone) I bet you think all of this is my fault and I said yes!! He said the pink right breast and pink under both breasts was not his fault and he doesn't know why it is like that. He said it looked like an allergic reaction. Then he said the rashes weren't his fault and told me that the my skin didn't look bad and to keep using the radia gel he gave me.

Also told him I was having sharp pains in the left breast and he said that was nerves healing from the surgery in June. Pretty much he wasn't concerned about any of it, so I guess instead of whining, I need to puke on him or cry hysterically saying I'm in tremendous pain or so fatigued I can't walk before he will show any concern. Sigh!

I have actually joined the October rads since I will start on Sept. 30th.  Can anyone suggest a good bra/camisole or whatever method you may use?  I will be working during this time and do not think my co-workers would appreciate me going braless.

I had those shooting pains too and i got so tired of them, i got really depressed. come to find out it was the nerves where i had be cut.  i took two days of lyrica and no more pain.  the rad. ocon. office in chattanooga gives everyone samples of aquaphor.  i still have some. it worked really well, just make sure that your skin is clean before treatment.

jsmiley, don't dread it so much.  maybe no cakewalk, but a far cry from chemo.  after chemo we can survive anything.  i prayed two days to die during chemo.  and as far as the sleep deprivation (probably misspelled) was concerned, i would get maybe one hour every two days.  lunesta or ambien didn't work.  other than alittle drawing on my chest, that i kept greased up, i didn't have a rough time at all.  i itched alittle but not bad. so keep your chin up and u will be fine. 

Hi ladies,

I'm Day 15 into mine and not too bad.  I can't tell if the little extra fatigue at night is still leftover chemo SEs or this, but either way, it's all extremely tolerable so far.  Getting a little pink on the area they're radiating.  I was advised by someone who just went through rads to use Jean's Cream and so far, it's working great.  My skin doesn't hurt (yet) and the cream isn't all goopy.  I told my rad team at Mayo and they didn't have any problem with it - they gave me only aloe so far, but if it got much worse, I suspect they would give me aquafor or something, but I'm good with Jean's Cream.  

Got a male rad tech this week. Thought I'd be weird with it but I am totally fine.  Any shred of embarrassment I think I've had about this, the last 8 months has completely stripped away...  

Bad day today...woke up so sore and tight in my chest area. It's red and painful all surrounding my breast, and a little bit of the other one. My armpit area hurts too. I was so tired today...I was just sort of sleepwalking through work. This girl I work with asked me how I was feeling (I don't really like her too much...at all) and I told her I was exhausted. Her response? "I hear ya." She's going through nursing school and apparently thinks that our tiredness levels are comparable. I literally wanted to smack her. She had a choice: go to nursing school and deal with the repercussions of it. Did I have a choice? NO. It really pissed me off. I left work early to nap before rads. And I just got home now, and I'm still exhausted. I'm hoping it won't get much worse than this. Maybe I'm just being a big baby, but I had to vent. People who don't/haven't gone through this have no idea, and I don't feel like listening to them "sympathize" when they're just looking for someone to feel bad for THEM. 

Sorry. Thanks for listening. Hope all of you are getting through the week okay. 

Reading about side effects, one site said: "...Most patients develop dull aches or sharp shooting pains in the breast that may last for a few seconds or minutes. It is rare for patients to need any medication for this..." I believe that many of the side effects we feel are in fact from rads. But if your Dr. can't do anything to fix it, he may dismiss it. 

I have a personal prejudice against male doctors, finding them generally without empathy. Unfortunately, all 4 Rad Oncs at my medical center are male; but all my other doctors are women. I've never heard a woman Dr. say, "You'll get used to it," like my Rad Onc did.

Just my opinion.

JSmiley60 Your rad onc has quite the bed-side manner, NOT.  His comments are totally unacceptable and unsupportive.  Jerk.

Roberta-  I found the white cotton Bali bras w/o underwires very comfortable.  You can get them at most department stores and they are fairly inexpensive!  

Finished treatment 20 today, 11 left to go.  Skin holding up pretty well.  I feel very fortunate.  Start the boosts a week from today.   

I had treatment #27 today...just one more to whole area and then 5 boosts to MX incision. My skin hurts....mostly at night and mostly where the sun used to hit my neck and at my lymphectomy incision. I quit wearing a bra after about treatment # 20.....but I am flat, so this isn't so much of a problem. I'll probably wear a bra with soft forms for a rehearsal dinner the day after I finish treatment.....I bet a glass of wine will help with the pain. It's different being flat, but nice and cool in this hot weather! I found some pretty, big earrings at Target this weekend and they help me feel like I still look like a woman. My woman oncologist admired my haircut.....I'm getting pretty good with scissors and a hand-held mirror. She said if I want to color it again (who me?) I should wait until 6 mos post chemo because the early growth hair is weaker and can fall out. I do not want to chance that so am rocking the "silver" look. :-) I'm definitely tired this week, but I'm finding that keeping busy is helpful.

Good news: got results from 3-month post-chemo blood test. My tumor marker has come down to 17 and my onc says anything under 40 is good. I think this means that chemo killed anything wandering around and surgery and radiation have also done their job. Great relief. 

Neither rad onc or med onc had much to say about the arthritis symptoms I am having, mostly in my thumbs but also in other finger joints, other than that I should keep an eye out for any lymphedema symptoms and attend an information meeting about Lymphedema. Also I could try Advil.

I got my Tamoxifen prescription and will start two weeks after radiation is done. Was told to let doctor know if I experience swelling in my legs (blood clot risk) or unusal spotting (uterine cancer risk). Should expect hot flashes, but with chemo I am already familiar with those.

Continued good luck to everyone as you get through treatment! 

Completed 21 out of 35 today. Since my chest and underarm are so sore and red, my rad onc is doing the 7 boosts starting tomorrow, to give the other areas a break. I'm a little nervous...are they any different than the axillary (?) ones? She drew on me again, in red marker, circling my scar and a little bit underneath where I could feel my tumor. She said my skin should get a little better until they start radiating that area again, but I'll have 7 boosts, so that's a little break. I'm looking for something other than Aquaphor for my skin since it's so messy and doesn't "sink" into the skin very quickly. Aloe has worked for many here?

Hope everyone is doing well! The week is more than halfway over! 

Karin -

My right heel has been numb when I wake up in the morning. This started 3 weeks after my last Taxotere. I mentioned it to my onc and he said if it was neuropathy, it would be painful, rather than numb, and would not go away. I find after I've moved around awhile that I don't notice it as much. Wonder what is going on? Also, what trial are you in? I've been trying to get my onc to sign me up for something, but so far I don't qualify for anything. As a scientist, I feel it my duty to do something to help out other researchers (and us). I'm so disappointed.

Shelley